Monday 17 February 2014 08.20 EST
First published on Monday 17 February 2014 08.20 EST

Name: Barkhad Abdi

Age: 28.

Appearance: Currently occupying the middle ground between terrifying and delighted.

His face looks familiar. What have I seen him in? Almost definitely Captain Phillips.

Who was he in that? He played the ferocious Somali pirate leader Abduwali Muse.

Oh, right. I haven't seen Captain Phillips though. Then did you watch the Baftas on Sunday?

Of course. Abdi's the man who won the best supporting actor trophy.

That's right! I remember now – the guy who briefly looked fairly startled at how drunk Emma Thompson seemed. Sure. But the most important thing is that he won a Bafta, and received arguably the warmest reception of the entire night in the process.

Why was that, exactly? Has he endured a particularly gruelling road to stardom? Not gruelling, no. But his rise has been kind of incredible.

Really? What else has he been in? Nothing at all. Paul Greengrass's drama Captain Phillips was his first acting credit. Before that he'd variously been a limo driver, a DJ and a phone salesman.

In Somalia? No, in Minnesota. Tens of thousands of Somalians live in Minnesota, which is why Greengrass held casting calls there.

So was the Bafta win just a fluke, then? Nope. That was his fourth award win. In total, Barkhad has been nominated for 28 different awards for his performance.

Whoa. Why? Mostly because it was brilliant. If you'd seen how electric he is onscreen, you'd understand.

Will it be an Oscar next? That's less likely. Captain Phillips didn't get as many Oscar nominations as anyone thought it would, plus his competitor Jared Leto couldn't have given a more relentlessly Oscar-friendly performance in Dallas Buyers Club if he'd stapled a Meryl Streep mask to his face and recited Gone with the Wind in its entirety.

That's a shame. Not really. Thanks to Captain Phillips, Barkhad Abdi is now a name to be reckoned with. He's got a glittering future ahead of him. Plus, he's best mates with Tom Hanks now, which probably helps.